Following
by Iceberg3k
Summary: One view of what might have happened between episodes 23 and 40...


Following  
A story of Gundam Wing  
Mark Berger  
  
The year is After Colony 195. The five Gundam Pilots have returned to  
colonies that no longer want them. All continue their fight against the  
tyrannical OZ organization and its parent, the aristocratic Romefeller  
Foundation, each in their own way... In L2, Duo Maxwell discovers that you   
don't find love - it finds you.  
  
----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------  
  
"Why are you following me around? Don't you have a life to get back to?"   
Duo Maxwell was asking the girl following him. A handsome youth of fifteen  
with very long brown hair that he braided to keep out of the way, warm eyes  
and a ready grin, Duo was hardly the type that one would expect to be one  
of the bloodthirsty Gundam pilots. And yet he was the pilot of the Gundam  
Deathscythe, designated 'Zero-Two' by the forces of OZ.  
  
The reed-slim pixie of a girl could have easily been confused for a  
student, clad in a two-tone purple sweater, a pair of black stretch pants  
and a big mauve beret. Her black-purple hair and big, expressive blue  
eyes gave her a look of innocence that belied her fifteen years. A very  
different outfit from the one he had first seen her in: the form-revealing  
OZ spacesuit. "I gave up a career in OZ to save your ass, Duo Maxwell,  
and I want to know why!"  
  
"I barely even know your name! And you took a huge chance, you could have  
been executed over that!"  
  
"It's Hilde, and you know it perfectly well. Hilde Schibecker. Besides,  
I got off lucky - all I got was a dishonorable discharge, since I wasn't  
done with training yet. They wrote it off as succumbing to undue duress  
in the face of the enemy."  
  
"Well, if you'd stop spying on me... man, you'd think you were an OZ  
snooper or something, only totally incompetent."  
  
"Totally WHAT??? You are IMpossible!" She turned and stormed away.  
  
"Good riddance," muttered Duo. But inwardly, he groaned at her departure.  
Her spirit was something that intrigued him. She was nothing like the  
people he'd been associating with since he met the other Gundam pilots on  
Earth. Heero and Relena, they of the frightening intensity and straight-  
forward focus - Heero on death, Relena on... well, on Heero. God, thought  
Duo, those two deserve each other. Trowa, the fatalistic soldier. Not  
much to him. And then there was Quatre, who was, to borrow a phrase from  
one of the kids he'd known in Father Maxwell's orphanage, as queer as a  
three-dollar bill. Of course, Father Maxwell had sharply admonished the  
child for his language... Quatre's talk about "My dear Sandrock" was a  
little scary at times. A Gundam was a tool, like any other mobile suit.  
The pilot of Gundam Zero-Five, who called his Gundam "Nataku," was an  
enigma, but Duo had no doubt that he, like the others, was a complete  
fruitcake. Hilde, in contrast to all of them, had a free spirit and an  
easy laugh. She was so cute when she laughed, too, a loud, infectious  
peal of joy instead of a girlish twitter.  
  
Duo realized he wanted rather badly to see Hilde again. The God of  
Death needed his Persephone. "Aw, damn," he muttered, looking into  
the reflecting pool at his mirror-image, "You have got it bad." He  
sighed and gazed off into the distance.  
  
***  
  
"Hilde Schibecker, you have got it bad. What did he ever do for you,  
anyway? What do you see in him?" Hilde mumbled around a mouthful of  
hamburger. "He's just another guy... he's not worth putting yourself  
through hell for." Trouble was, she wasn't convincing herself: Every  
time she closed her eyes, even for just a blink, she saw Duo's face.  
  
***  
  
The next morning, Duo found himself thinking about Hilde while he shaved.  
His attention drifted for a moment and he felt he inevitable reward of  
inattention while moving a blade about one's face: the sharp sting of a  
razor cut on his chin. "Ow, damn. . ." He ripped off a small square of  
paper towel and stuck it to the cut, hoping that it would stop bleeding  
soon, and continued to shave, paying more attention to the morning  
routine.  
  
***  
  
Halfway across town, Hilde was washing her short-cropped hair in the shower  
of the public shelter she had stayed in for the night. *I wonder if Duo  
would pay more attention to me if it were longer...* She prodded her  
small breasts. *Or if these were bigger.*  
  
"Hey, are you done in there? Other people need to use that thing too!"  
  
"Just a minute!" Hilde quickly rinsed her hair, toweled dry and got out  
of the shower.  
  
***  
  
Hilde found herself in the middle of town with nowhere to go. Her money  
wasn't exactly holding out well - cut off from her family, her finances  
were tenuous at best. *Oh jeez... Down to fifty bucks...*  
  
A hand slipped some paper into Hilde's palm while her head was turned.  
She looked about to see a brown braid slip into the crowd. "Duo?" No  
heads turned.  
  
Hilde looked at the paper in her hand. A fifty-dollar bill, the picture  
of President Grant staring at her.  
  
***  
  
"Why did I do that, it's not like I've got a ton of money," muttered Duo.  
"At least I should have stayed and talked to her." He was moving toward  
the Sweepers' base. "So I wonder what the other guys are up to right  
now."  
  
***  
  
"Hey, Maxwell, great haul today. I bet that Gundam makes it easy for you.  
Ya just take out whatever looks good, haul in the debris and rake in the  
bucks."  
  
"Yeah, well if you can't find profit, you might as well make it, I always  
say." Duo grinned, tossing Franklin a small bag of hamburgers from the  
White Castle sack he carried. He pulled a small picture of Hilde out of  
his pocket and gazed at it while he ate his sliders.  
  
"Hey, man, whatcha lookin' at? Heyyyyy, nice lookin' chick, but way  
underaged..."  
  
"Watch what you say about her... She saved my life."  
  
***  
  
By midday, Hilde found herself waiting at a popular restaurant for lunch.  
She had forgone supper last night to save the meager money she had  
remaining, to say nothing of breakfast in the morning, and she was very  
hungry. "Mind if I sit down?" asked a man near her.  
Hilde responded, "Go away."  
The man whispered, "You might decide to change your mind if you know  
what's good for you."  
  
"I don't think you want to do that, friend." Duo! Hilde looked to see  
the man - who had the look of a professional killer - facing the Gundam  
pilot.  
"Duo, be careful."  
  
"The lady was waiting for me, friend. If I were you, I'd shove off now,  
because otherwise I'm not going to go easy on you." Duo's attitude was  
100% anger. He knew that the much bigger antagonist just wanted some-  
body smaller than himself to shovel his crap onto, and he wasn't about  
to let that happen to Hilde.  
"You? You're just a kid. Go away, before I spank your ass."  
Duo snorted and replied, "You sound like you spend a lot of time thinking  
about other men's asses." *Smooth move, Duo, what are you trying to do,  
show off for Hilde?* The other man growled and reached under his coat.  
Duo assumed a fighting stance, and Hilde backed away from both of them.  
*Run for it, Hilde, I don't want you to get hurt,* thought Duo.  
  
The beating - far too one-sided to be called a fight - was swift and  
brutal. The man pulled a knife, Duo executed an expert roundhouse kick  
that sent the knife flying into a nearby table, much to the fright of its  
occupants. Then, the young Gundam pilot proceeded to unleash a rapid-fire  
series of brutally well-placed kicks and punches into the man's face and  
midsection, effortlessly absorbing his opponent's counterstrikes. After  
the assailant collapsed, Duo called out, "Garcon, take care of this  
trash for me!"  
  
"Yes, Mr. Duo." The Gundam pilot flipped the maitre'd a credit-chip, and  
the security people unkindly carried Hilde's would-be attacker out of the  
restaurant. Duo winced at a place where the man had gotten a decent jab  
through to his ribs.  
  
"Thanks for the help, Duo." There were stars in Hilde's eyes, making her  
look very pretty, and Duo felt his resistance to her weakening by the  
second.  
  
"Don't mention it, Hilde. I figured one good turn deserves another."  
Duo sat down at the table and leaned back. Hilde thought he looked cute  
and masculine. Duo, for his part, thought Hilde looked beautiful.  
*Come on, man, you're a Gundam pilot, you're supposed to be tough, not go  
all to pieces over a cute girl.* She smiled, showing extremely cute  
dimples. *Ohhhh no, man, God must be getting even with me for something,  
please no, I'd rather face a whole squadron of Taurus suits...* Duo  
blushed darkly. "Hilde?"  
  
"Mmm-hmm?"  
  
"I... I'm sorry for the mean things I said..."  
  
Hilde stopped moving for a moment, while Duo plowed ahead.  
  
"This is hard for me to say, but... I think... I think I'm falling in  
love with you."  
  
"Duo... I've felt the same way about you since I met you."  
  
The waiter came with two menus. Hilde looked down the menu and her  
stomach growled noisily.  
"Hilde, order anything you want. I've got enough money to cover it."  
"Duo, are you sure?"  
"Absolutely."  
Hilde ordered "A Juicy Lucy, a shake and fries, and a cup of soup."  
  
"Make that a double," added Duo.  
  
The soup arrived first, and Hilde drained the cup. "Haven't eaten much  
today?"  
  
"Haven't eaten since lunch, yesterday," Hilde explained. Duo's eyes  
filled with tears, thinking of how Hilde had put up such a bravely  
cheerful front for his benefit. "You stay with me, Hilde. I'll set you  
up so you never have to go hungry again."  
  
"You'd do that for me?"  
  
"You bet."  
  
The food arrived, and Hilde surprised Duo again with how quickly such  
a slight girl could pack it away. As soon as she finished eating, Hilde  
leaned back in her seat, a blissful smile on her face, feeling her  
stomach full for the first time in over a day, while Duo lingered over  
his fries, feeling a surge of fierce love and protectiveness well up.  
  
"You want to give it a chance then? I have to warn you; one day I might  
not come back. You know what my life is like, and you know how dangerous  
it is. The God of Death is a dangerous partner to have, and I don't want  
to see you come to harm because of me."  
  
Hilde leaned toward Duo, her lips trembling and her eyes closed. Duo  
leaned in and their lips met. Hilde's were very soft and tasted of  
strawberries, and her kiss was firm and passionate, just like in his  
dreams.  
  
After they broke their kiss, Duo whispered, "We'd better scram before  
OZ gets word of some 'kung fu priest' or something down here..."  
  
"Why do you wear that getup, anyway?"  
  
"Because a priest saved my life, gave me a second chance, and he died  
before I could return the favor. I'm remembering him." He paid the  
cashier and they left the restaurant. "I haven't seen too many  
miracles... but I've seen a lot of dead people..."  
  
"Well, just as long as you don't go trying to take a vow of celibacy  
on me..."  
  
"You got yourself a deal." Duo led Hilde by the hand through some of  
the rougher parts of the cylinder. "Just watch your step, the people  
here can be a little rough."  
  
"Haven't noticed," she responded wryly.  
  
"Don't worry, after I broke both of the last gang leader's arms, they  
don't bother me."  
  
Hilde was surprised - Duo's place was actually pretty nice, much nicer  
inside than outside. He kept it neat, which made it seem larger than  
it otherwise might have. Hilde flopped down on the sofa and Duo clicked  
on the television, leaving on a movie and then leaving the room. "Where  
are you going?"  
  
"I'll be right back, Hilde. Don't worry!" The faint sound of popcorn  
popping came from the kitchen, and Hilde smiled. "I love popcorn!"  
  
"Thought you might!"  
  
The movie was a sappy, romantic flick from the long-ago 20th Century,  
and Duo and Hilde curled up together, falling asleep on the sofa, happy  
smiles on their faces.  
  
***  
  
Duo woke up in the middle of the night, his arm and leg beneath the  
warm, soft bulk of Hilde's body. He picked her up gently and moved  
her to his bed, laying her on it. He turned to go back to the sofa  
in the living room, when he heard the rustle of fabric against fabric.  
"You don't have to go if you don't want - there's plenty of room on the  
bed for both of us... 'Sides, you're warm, and it's a bit cool in here."  
Hilde's eyes were softly focused and half-open, gazing at Duo through a  
mask of half-sleep. Shrugging, Duo stripped down to his underwear and  
slid into bed next to Hilde, who shrugged off her purple top and the  
black t-shirt she wore under it to reveal a shimmering white silk bra.  
"Sorry, Duo, but I have no intention of stripping down further than this.  
I know how you little Catholic boys can be." She winked at him to soften  
the statement. Duo pulled the rubber band out of his braid and shook it  
out, long chestnut hair flying all over.  
  
"Just wait for the morning..." Hilde was falling asleep as Duo breathed  
the words. He embraced her and fell asleep in her arms. The soft sound  
of their snoring filled the small bedroom.  
  
***  
  
In the morning, Hilde woke to the smell of fresh pancakes, real eggs and  
bacon, and orange juice. Her stomach rumbled; popcorn was a poor  
substitute for supper. As if on cue, Duo entered the bedroom carrying  
a tray laden with breakfast foods. "Eat up, Hilde - we've got a big day  
today. I need to give the Gundam Deathscythe a workout soon, and before  
that, we've got to give it a thorough preflight and sort through this  
junk for things that it needs."  
  
"How do you expect to get a mobile suit out of this colony, let alone a  
Gundam?" Hilde spoke around mouthfuls of pancakes. If nothing else,  
Duo knew how to cook a farm breakfast - from the amount of food he was  
eating, he looked like he was anticipating a lot of manual labor today,  
and Hilde ate accordingly, expecting to be helping out.  
  
"It's all a matter of cloaking the Deathscythe and waiting for one of  
the regular patrols to go out," explained Duo between mouthfuls.  
  
He finished the breakfast. "You get going on dishes, I'll pack lunch,"  
he said. Hilde complied with the distribution of tasks, and started  
to wash the dishes Duo had generated in creating breakfast. She was  
surprised with the amount of food that the boy had in his refrigerator  
- far from the pre-packed stuff one would expect a single male to have,  
he had a lot of fresh foods, and from the leftovers in the fridge, he  
was fairly adept at putting them together. Duo, noticing that she was  
looking in the fridge, commented, "It takes a bit longer to make, and  
a bit more effort, but the results are ALWAYS better, or at least more  
interesting, than just tossing some can of glop on the stove and eating  
the results."  
  
"Carrots? Who eats those?"  
  
Duo grabbed one and gnawed off the tip. "What's up, Doc?" Hilde  
scooped up a handful of soap suds and threw them at him.  
  
"Hey! I surrender, posthaste!"  
  
After they finished the morning washing-up, the pair went out into the  
junkyard. Duo's sweeper friends had left him a new load of trash to  
sort, and the two set to work. Hilde felt herself lagging behind Duo  
in the work. Her slightly-built frame wasn't up to the demands of this  
kind of heavy physical labor, and she repeatedly found herself stopping  
for a moment's rest. "Duo, wait!" Duo turned around just as Hilde's  
knees gave way and she sank down to the uneven surface.  
  
"Hilde, are you OK?" Duo bent down next to Hilde.  
  
"Yeah... just... I'm not cut out for this kind of work. I'm sorry, Duo,  
I'm just not strong enough."  
  
"It's OK, just do what you can and don't worry about the rest." Hilde  
let go of the chunk of torn armor plating she was holding. Her palms  
were cut and bruised from trying to manhandle a piece of armor larger  
than she was. "Hilde, go and get those cleaned out and covered, you  
don't want them to get infected." The cuts were shallow, but at a glance,  
Duo thought they looked like she had a couple of fragments in them. Hilde  
nodded and walked for the house.  
  
"Silly girl..." Duo smiled and watched Hilde as her back receded from  
him. *She looks nice from all angles,* he thought.  
  
Hilde disappeared into the house, and Duo continued to work.  
  
----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------  
  
After Colony 197  
  
"Duo? Duo, snap out of it." Heero Yuy shook Duo's shoulder, and Duo's  
eyes focused. "Heero?" Duo stretched his legs and stood. Heero was a  
bit shorter than Duo, but he had better-defined muscles. His shorter  
hair was also a few shades darker than Duo's.  
  
"You're daydreaming about Hilde again, aren't you?" The smaller pilot's  
eye held a small, private twinkle that only Duo and Relena, of all people  
in the universe, knew how to find. The twinkle that meant something had  
amused him.  
  
"Yeah... I sure hope she's okay." Duo's grin seemed a little bit unsure.  
  
"Hilde's a survivor, Duo. She'll be there when you get back."  
  
"Yeah, you're right. I should really drop her a letter and let her  
know I'm okay. AFTER we get back from this flight. Hey, when are you  
and Relena going to get serious?"  
  
Heero smiled slightly. "We can talk about that later... Right now, we  
have a mission to fly. Mr. Milliardo's waiting for us in the briefing  
room." Relena's brother had changed a lot since his "death" two years  
ago, and was now an important member of the Preventers.  
  
"Right. You seen Trowa and Quatre?" The two youngest members of the  
Preservers were seldom seen apart, lending credence to the widespread  
rumors that they were gay lovers. Rumors that the other Gundam pilots  
knew were true, but steadfastly refused to comment on, for the sake of  
preserving their friends' privacy.  
  
Heero nodded and pointed two fingers in the direction of Trowa's  
quarters, then brought the fingers together. Duo nodded knowingly and  
set out towards the Preventers' briefing room with his friend.  
  
----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------0----------  
  
*END*  
  
*Author's Notes*  
  
I can make that "little Catholic boys" crack. After all, I *am* a 'little  
Catholic boy.'  
  
Also, I know it's been a *LONG* time since I've posted any kind of fic...  
Hopefully, this will change now. :)  
  
Thanks to Fablespinner for giving me the inspiration to write a romantic  
Duo/Hilde fic (at least there's *ONE* person who's not going to flame  
me;)), Kenton "The Great Requiem" Cernea, Bonnie "Sailor Mac" Walling,  
Sonya "Sailor Star Love" St. Germain, Steve "Badger" Savage, Yohann  
DeSabrais, everybody who's read my Sailor Moon fanfics, Sailor Skuld,  
the members of the Sailor Moon Authors Mailing List, etc. etc. etc.  
  
"Out of the Darkness, you stumble into the Light/Fighting for the things  
you know are right!" - "Dare," Stan Bush (Transformers: The Movie).  



End file.
